“He pushed his way in when I got home from work. I didn’t even hear him come up behind me, Sophie. He got mad when I told him I didn’t know where you were. He pushed me down and I thought he was going to leave,” Catherine explained fighting back a new onslaught of tears. “But he just went and locked the door.”
Sophie couldn’t speak through her own tears. She just held her friend’s hand and looked away. She couldn’t bring herself to look Catherine in the eye. Her face was red and purple, swollen more than Sophie thought possible. Her left eye was actually swollen shut. Her lip had required stitches. Sophie hadn’t stopped crying since she first walked into the room.
“It’s all my fault, Cat. I’m so sorry.”
“Sh, Sophie, it’s not. You’re not responsible for what Dave does. The police will get him. It’s only a matter of time.”
Sophie did her best to put on a brave face, wiped her tears and gave Catherine a reassuring smile. There was a knock on the door. A uniformed police officer poked his head in asked to speak to Sophie. By the time she came back in, Catherine was sleeping. She sat in the chair and put her head down on the side of the bed and quietly cried into her arm.
“I’m so sorry,” she whispered through her tears.
The nurse who allowed her to stay with Catherine came in to check her vitals around three a.m. Sophie stirred and the nurse spoke quietly too her.
“Miss, there is a gentlemen outside. He’s asking for you.”
Sophie sat up straight in the chair, apprehensive.
“Did he give you his name?”
“No, Ma’am, but he is tall and handsome, even with the missing tooth.”
“Alex!” she exclaimed, rushing out the door and into his waiting arms. He held her and shushed her when she cried. He told her everything would be okay. He kissed her forehead softly and raised her face to his. She glanced into his sad blue eyes and she looked away from him. At that moment, she couldn’t keep from seeing the beautiful blonde in the picture. She swallowed hard.
“Sophia, she will be okay.”
“No, everyone I love gets hurt. It won’t stop. It will never stop. You should go, Alex,” she pushed against his chest. He grabbed her hand.
“I not go. I stay with you. I not get hurt,” he looked at her questioningly.
“You don’t want to be with me, Alex. I’m broken. You can’t fix me. You should be with someone else. Someone who can give you what you need,” her voice broke. She tried to get away from him, but he wouldn’t let go of her hand.
“You what I need. Sophia, why you say this?”
“Please, just let me go, Alex,” she pleaded as a tear fell down her cheek again.
“No, I no let you go,” he pulled her close to him again and looked into her eyes. “I love you, Sophia.”
She looked up into his eyes. There was no blonde there anymore, only her - only plain, broken Sophie. She knew he was telling the truth even if she didn’t know why. She stroked the whiskers on his chin and kissed his soft lips. She clung to him. He held her so tight, she didn’t think he was going to let go. She ran her finger across his lips and looked up into the deep blue pools of his eyes.
“I love you, too.”
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